


9.8

by Phoboselpis



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Annabeth Chase Dies (Percy Jackson), F/M, Post-Gaea & The Second Giant War (Percy Jackson), Songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:07:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoboselpis/pseuds/Phoboselpis
Summary: The second great prophecy has just ended. So everything is all peaceful and quiet....... Right?A.K.A.The fates decided that Percy Jackson has not suffered enough.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

"_**calla lily, carnation, daisy  
Silently chase away your worries**_ "

The battle against Gaea was just nearing its end. I could see the trio, Jason, Piper, and Leo, flying in the distant sky, carrying what’s left of the Earth’s consciousness with them. While me and Annabeth and all of the other demigods were battling the rest of Gaea’s forces. 

I vanquished a horde of dracaenas with a blast of water from the nearest fire hydrant, and I could see Annabeth and her brother Malcolm deliver the final blow to a maeonian drakon on my left. Frank and Hazel were fighting against a pack of wolves under Lycaon, but it’s nothing they can’t handle. 

I scurried off to help the rest of Aphrodite Cabin facing a few cyclopes and then I heard it. The explosion. The sky literally lit up in flames and two bodies dropped down from the flames. Annabeth caught my eyes, and I can see panic in her eyes. 

_Jason._

_Leo._

_Piper._

We raced to the scene only to find Jason holding Piper securely in his arms. They were singed badly with flames but still alive. Annabeth called out for Will and fed them a few ambrosia squares. 

After a few moments, Jason opened his eyes. 

“What happened? Where’s Leo?” I asked him. Jason tightened his grasp on Piper. “Gaea’s gone. But Leo… I don’t know.” 

“What do you mean you don’t know? Is he okay? Is he still alive?” Annabeth pressed on. 

“I really don’t know, Annabeth. Leo told us his plan on drinking the physician’s cure but then we got thrown off before the explosion happened. And I haven’t seen Leo since. We should… We should search for him. He might be injured. We have to find him and help him!” Jason said as he slowly got up, leaving the still unconscious Piper in Will’s hands. 

“He’s not dead.” 

I jumped a bit startled at a new voice behind me. We all stared at Nico who suddenly appeared right beside Will. “I know, I can feel them, everyone of them who has left us. And I can’t sense Leo among them.” 

We heaved a relieved sigh upon hearing the words. At least we still have the insurance that he is still alive. And festus is with him, so he will have enough help to survive alone before we can find him. 

After that, we rejoined the battle with renewed strength. I plowed through hordes of monsters; dracaenas, cyclopes, empousas. They didn’t stand a chance against the whirlwind that was me. A few times a sudden lightning bolt hit the monsters, scattering their ranks and instantly disintegrating them. I assessed my surroundings, a few demigods were lying on the ground, dead, but overall the damage was not that bad. 

After Gaea was gone and the Giants were defeated, the monster army was not that terrifying at all. And soon, all of the remnants of the monsters were killed. 

We collected the bodies of our friends and healed the wounds that we sustained. And the war was won. The second great prophecy was officially over. We saved the world, again. I looked to my side and reached for Annabeth’s hand. She smiled. The blinding smile that makes her stormy gray eyes sparkle. The smile I loved and will never grow tired of seeing. 

“It’s over. We did it, Percy! We won!” And then we kissed. 


	2. Chapter 2

"_**Chrysanthemum, kalanchoe  
Become your shield whenever you fall asleep **_"

A few months had passed. I helped rebuild camp and also New Rome. Leo came back weeks before, bringing the titaness Calypso with him. No monsters have been sighted in a few weeks, and Rachel hasn’t sprouted any prophecies since the war was over. There was finally peace, or so everyone thought. 

It all happened when Annabeth and I were travelling to New Rome to help Jason rebuild the new temple of Jupiter. A few kilometres before we reached the little tiber, a pack of around 10 hellhounds surrounded us. I uncapped riptide and stood back to back with Annabeth with practiced ease. 

“I take it that you are not Mrs.O’Leary’s friends? I can give you belly rubs and play fetch if you do.” I grumbled. Apparently that was not the right thing to say, because right after that, they jumped to us. 

We fought bravely. I defeated Gaea and Kronos, the big shots. I am not going to die in the paws of a few hellhounds. I finished the 7th hound with a stab in its head, and looked back to Annabeth. She was fine. Athena’s not the goddess of war for nothing. Annabeth smirked at me and brushed off the gold dust from her shoulders. I smiled back. 

“I took down more than you, Wise Girl!” I shouted. 

She just stuck out her tongue. “Just see next time, Seaweed Brain.” 

And that’s where everything goes downhill. I could sense something was going to go very wrong. A shiver ran through my spine and suddenly Annabeth slumped to the ground. In her place, stood a flickering form of the Earth Mother. 

“You may defeat me, hero”, she snarled, “but I am not going to let you live your life. If I am going to go, I’ll take your happiness with me.” 


	3. Chapter 3

"_**I cried out  
"Please, don't leave me behind, leave me behind" **_"

My insides went cold as Annabeth’s body slowly fell. A puddle of blood had formed around the stab wound on her chest. _No, I thought, This is not real. This can’t be happening. Our war is over, this was supposed to be our happy ending._ I stood stunned until I managed to force my legs to move. I have to reach her. I have to catch her, help her, convince myself that this is not real. 

But the fates were cruel. I felt the cold dampness of her blood in my fingers. Then it all seemed much more real to me, that Annabeth is going to die. I held her tiny face in my hands, “Annie? Wise Girl, please, look at me. Please just- just stay with me. I’ll get help, anything, just please, don’t die on me.”

She smiled and looked up at me with those stormy gray eyes full of emotions. Regret, love, and courage, but not a sliver of pain evident. 

“Percy….. Stay. I- I can feel it. This is my time to go.”

My eyes widened at her words. I felt bile surging in my throat, along with panic and fear of losing her.

“No no no no no Annabeth please stay with me. Don't die please Annabeth no. Please don't leave me. No no no. Annabeth. Open your eyes. It can't end like this. Please. PLEASE. SOMEBODY. ANYBODY. HELP HER. APOLLO! FATHER! GODS, ANYBODY! Heal her. Please....." I sobbed.

"It can't end like this. Don't leave me behind, Wise Girl. I can't do this without you. You promised. We’ll move to New Rome, get a college degree, and move in together. We’ll start a family. You promised. Annabeth, please, don’t do this."

She moved her trembling hands, grasped mine, and whispered, “It’s okay, Percy. You have to let me go. I love you, and I’m sorry.” And then she went slack.

My world shattered. I could vaguely hear someone screaming in the background. Was it me? That explained why my throat felt like I just threw up lava. 

Hazel and the others came to us just to find me clutching the stiff body of Annabeth. I just couldn't let go of her. She had become my world, my everything. Her beautiful face stayed in an eternal smile. Her once stormy eyes now gray and dull, lifeless. 

I felt my tears ran down my cheeks in an endless stream. Annabeth. My Wise Girl. My geek. My girlfriend. My fiance. _Gone._

I leaned in and kissed her one last time. And while still holding her bloodstained body close by my side, I lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

"_**So you held me tight  
And said "I will be just fine, I will be just fine, I will be just fine" **_"

I woke up in a hospital room in New Rome. My eyes swollen, my throat hurt, and my head was throbbing like crazy. On instinct, I scanned the room for Annabeth. _Where is she?_ , I thought. _Why am I here?_. I searched my brain for information, and then it all rushed back to me. I remembered. The attack, the voice, the hellhounds, her blood. No, my brain supplied. _She cannot be dead. This is not real. This is a dream._

I scampered down my bed, stopping for a while to lose the dizziness, and sprinted outside. “Annabeth?? Annabeth? Where are you? Annabeth!!!”, my voice grew louder and more desperate with time. But no, I still got no response. The wrenching feeling in my gut intensified. _I need to see her. I need reassurance that it was all just a dream._

And then Jason came. I stared hopefully at him, hoping that he may know where Annabeth is. But the look he gave me shot down all my hopes. Sadness and anger swirled within those blue orbs, but most of all, pity. “She’s gone, Perce. She’s gone.” 

My world turned upside down. My knees buckled and I can faintly feel my knees scrape against the concrete floor. I wanted to vomit. 

“She couldn’t have died,” I muttered. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were safe, content. We were _happy_.” I felt tears pricking my eyes. “Never again were we getting separated, she said. What am I going to do without her?” 

My cries turned into sobs and later full blown rage. Rage at Gaea for snatching her away from me, at the Gods for not helping and interfering, at the Fates for being so cruel, and at myself. For not being able to keep her safe. For not being able to protect her. For letting her die.

Jason kept his distance while my anger took hold of me. I hate them. I hate this world for messing with my life. I punched and kicked and doused everything around me. But even the mighty son of Poseidon has his limit. I slumped back to the floor after what felt like an eternity. Jason helped me stand up and led me back to my room. At this point, I was reduced to a state of nothingness. I don’t care anymore. He assisted me and brought a cup of water to my lips. He told me to open my mouth, so I did. He poured the water into my mouth. But it all trickled out. 

“Please Perce, you have to drink.” I stared blankly at him. “Don’t do this to yourself. Annabeth must have wanted to see you okay. You cannot destroy yourself.”

At the mention of her name, my anger flared again. “AND WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT, GRACE? Don’t you DARE assume what she would and wouldn’t want.” 

The sudden burst of anger faded away just as quickly, and I slumped against the pillows. “After all, she’s not here anymore.” Jason was left speechless at that and after a last pitying look, he left.

Days flew by after that incident with Jason, and I find the world drained of colors. Of life. I spent most of my days staring into nothingness, not caring if I ate or slept or showered. I was sent back to Camp Half-Blood. My friends tried their best to cheer me up. To coax my happy, bubbly self out again. But one by one, they realized that I was a lost cause. I was beyond fixable. Until one day, a certain son of Hades came to me. 

“Percy, I’m coming in.” I spared him a glance before going back to my daily activity, staring blankly out of the window. “Percy. Percy, look at me.” I ignored him. 

“ _Perseus Jackson._ ” 

He had a vice grip on my shoulders and shook them as hard as possible. 

“What?!” I snapped, pushing his hands away from my shoulders. “I’m not in the mood of talking, Nico. What do you want to talk about? Just get on with it and go out.”

He actually stepped back a little at my sudden outburst, but his Onyx eyes steeled with resolve. “It’s about her. About Annabeth’s death.”

My breath hitched at the mention of her name. And suddenly I was hit by a thought that made me want to vaporize the Death Boy in front of me. 

“Did you know?” I growled. “Did you know that she’s going to die?” He had the decency to look guilty, at least.

“I saw her name on my father’s list, some time before it happened.” I stood. I must’ve looked so menacing that I made Nico di Angelo cower. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I screamed. “Why didn’t you DO something about it, instead of just watching like the useless guy you are? Why did you let her die?”

The water in my cabin rose as if sensing my emotions. I was the strongest demigod alive in this era, and all of that power was being focused on him. Nico was absolutely terrified right now. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t drain you of your blood right now.” My voice was eerily quiet, like the calm before the storm. 

“It was her decision.” He mumbled while pulling something out of his pocket. “I went to her straight after I saw it, but I don’t know how or when it would happen. But she seemed calm, much too calm about it. A-and she told me not to tell you. I agreed. And a few days ago, she approached me and gave this to me.” 

He handed me a letter with Annabeth’s tidy cursive writing on the top. _To my beloved Seaweed Brain_ , it said. I stared dumbly at the letter before quickly taking it. “She told me to pass this to you if something happened to her, and I decided that you would need a few days to calm down before knowing this.”

I lost him at some point after he gave the letter to me, and he seemed to catch on to my feelings of wanting to be alone. So he teleported away and left me with her last letter. Her last message.

Slowly, with trembling hands, I opened the letter. The writing was neat and orderly, as expected of Annabeth. Without further ado, I began reading.

Dear Percy,  
_By the time you read this letter, I will already be dead. I know that it will be hard for you, very much so, but this is something that cannot be prevented. I’ve been getting dreams, voices of the Earth Mother whispering to me, promised me that she will bring me along with her. I didn’t know what it meant at first, but when Nico suddenly came to me, with that panicked look on his face, I realized that my time is almost up. Gaea literally wanted to kill me and bring me to Who knows where with her._

_I know that this is so sudden, and I know that right now you are probably very angry that I didn’t tell you anything. (You guessed it right, of course, I grunted). And I’m sorry about that. Maybe it’s just me being selfish. But think about it, what would you have done if you knew that I was going to die? You’d tear Olympus apart stone by stone to demand that the incident be prevented. You’d stay with me at all times to protect me. And I didn’t want that. I know from the start that this is something that even the Fates themselves cannot prevent. I have to die. And I don’t want our remaining time together to be spent on you being paranoid and all about it. So I decided to keep it a secret. Yes, it was very selfish of me, but forgive me this once, could you? And before you think of it, no, it was not your fault. None of these are. It was just the world messing with us._

_But it appears that my choice of not telling you was the best choice. I cherished all the beautiful moments we’ve had these past weeks. You really caught me off guard with your sudden marriage proposal… You looked positively beaming that day. Was it a mistake for me to say yes? I loved you very much, Perce, and I really want to live with you, beside you. I was so happy that day. But at the same time, I was devastated. I felt my heart shatter into pieces when you talked about getting a bachelor’s degree together in New Rome, when you talked about us moving together and starting a family. I couldn’t stop myself from crying that night in my cabin. I knew that I won’t be able to stay with you for long. I’m just waiting for the fateful day to come. I shouldn’t have given you the false hope that we could be together, forever. And I’m sorry for that, so so sorry._

_I know that this will sound impossible for you, but please, after I’m gone, will you stay as the Percy I know and love? The bright, cheerful, and goofy Percy Jackson whom everyone loved and cherished. I realized that you loved me so much that it must hurt like hell when I’m gone, but I don’t want to be an obstacle in your life. I don’t want your life to stop just because of me. I’m not telling you to forget me, I know you wouldn’t, but please Percy, you must move on. You have to live your life to the fullest, even without me around. And I’m not going to take no for an answer. I’ll be waiting for you, but don’t you dare come here too soon. I’m sorry for leaving you. I love you, Percy._

_Annabeth Chase,_  
Your Wise Girl.


End file.
